Ear protector



R. DISON EAR PROTECTOR Filed NOV. 14, 1934' Aug. 18, 1936.

INVENTOR. @u/fi 0/ 0/7 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The invention relates to devices which are arranged to be placed over the ears of a patron having a hair treatment or the like and which serve to protectively cover the ears during the course of such treatment.

An object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described which will have the parts thereof so arranged as to permit the positioning of the device on the head of the user without in any way interfering with the hair which may be waved and set preparatory to drying and which device will, in the course of drying of the hair, full cover, protect and insulate the ears from the hot air blasts of the usual hair drying apparatus.

Another object of the invention is. to provide a device of the above character which will in part consist of ear engaging pads which are soft and pliant and which are supported and extended into protecting, shielding relation over the ear by means of a stiffening form or backing member and which pads may be quickly and readily removed and replaced'on. the backing members to afford frequent changing of the pads and the maintenance of the device at all times clean and sanitary.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described which will be quickly and readily manually adjustable both as to length and positioning, and the degree of pressure exerted by the ear engaging pads against the side of the head.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of a womans head with the device of my invention operatively positioned thereon.

Figure 2 is a front view of the device as shown in Figure 1 with a portion of the device broken away and shown in section.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the ear engaging pads of the device as shown in. Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of thebacking member used in connection with the ear engaging pad as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a front view of the ear engaging pad.

Figure 6 is a front elevation of a modified form of the ear pad assembly.

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view of the assembly shown in Figure 6 taken substantially on the plane of the line 'l l of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the ear pad as shown in Figures 6 and '7.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a further modified form of the ear pad assembly.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a modified form of a backing member arranged for use together with the ear pad shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 5.

As is well known. in the art of hair dressing, a more or less standard procedure followed in the cleansing and dressing of the hair, is to first shampoo the hair, then finger wave or otherwise set the hair, and then cause the drying of the hair While in set position. This latter operation is usually assisted by the use of a hot air drying hood and, as is common, in order to maintain the hair in set position against the milling action of the flow of hot air thereover, a hair net-may be drawn over the hair after the same is waved or set.

The above drying operation, however, is usually attended by considerable discomfort to the patron by reason of the exposing of the relatively sensitive areas of the ears to the streams or blasts of hot air. To protect the ears against such overheating or burning, certain devices have been heretofore used in the form of shields positioned over the ears and under, and more or less held in place by, the hair net. Other devices have been used which depend for their support on an engagement with the top of the head. In either of these cases a rufiling and mussing of the hair is practically impossible to avoid and while by the use of such devices a certain degree of comfort was afforded the patron, such use necessarily interfered with the obtaining of a uniformly set head of hair. In accordance with the device of my invention, however, and as hereinbefore mentioned, a full protection against overheating or burning of the ears of the patron is afforded while at the same time the support for the device is arranged in a manner reducing any mussing or disturbing of the hair to a minimum.

In carrying out the above, I use a pair of ear shields II which are arranged to engage at the outer side of the hair net covering the waved hair and which are arranged to be pressed into opposed position over the ears of the patron by an interconnecting loop shaped member I2. As an important feature of my device, the member I2 is arranged to extend downwardly from the shields H and under the chin of the user to thus be for the most part entirely removed from the hair. Thus the only contact of the device with the hair is at the shields II, and this an indirect contact separated by the hair net, and any slight deranging effect on the hair covering the ears device, as well as caused by the inward pressure of the shields thereagainst is offset by the advantageous function of the shields in holding this hair in waved form against ruffling by the hot air currents.

The supporting member 52, as may be seen from Figure 2, consists of a sheath l3 of generally semicircular form whichengages at its open ends over strips M which are in the form of extensions from the shields ll. Thus by sliding the strips it into or from the sheath l3 an extension or contraction of the device may be provided. As will be understood, the resilience of the support is afforded both by the strip M and the sheath l3 which may be form-ed of spring metal. With special reference to Figure 2, it will be noted that by reason of the generally circular shape of the support, extension of the strips 54 from the sheath is accompanied by an approachment of the shields and a corresponding increase in strain on the members and resilience will be set up when the shields are drawn apart for positioning over the ears of the user. In this manner, the association of the strips M and the sheaths l3 as here shown, provide for an adjust ment both of the lengths and positioning of the the degree of resilience afforded to separation of the shield members. Preferably in order that the exposed portions of the holder assembly may remain cool and comfortable in its engagement with the adjacent portions of the users head, the strips i l and the sheath l3 are preferably enclosed in a liner l5 of insulation material such as bakelite or the like.

A further and important feature of my device is in the arrangement of the shield member. As here shown, I prefer to construct a shield ll of a two piece member, one piece a soft, pliant pad i! of desirable softness and compressibility for engagement with the head of the user, and the other a stiffening or backing member 18 which serves to engage and extend the pad I! to proper form for engagement with the head. In this manner each of the shield members may be selected of a material and construction to best carry out its individual function to thereby produce a shield member which may be best fitted from a standpoint of softness and contour to perform its required function.

A further advantage of a two piece construction of the shield is that this arrangement makes possible the ready removal of the pad for cleaning or replacement to thereby maintain the shield at all times clean and sanitary. As a satisfactory and inexpensive material suitable for the ear engaging pads of the shield, I may use either soft sponge rubber, which may be readily cleaned or replaced when desired, or I may use cotton pads which on becoming soiled or dirty may be quickly replaced with a clean pad.

Both of the aforesaid materials provide an additional and important advantage in their capability of dampening to the ears the usual noise or roar which is present in most hair drying hoods. The more ridged and thinner shields heretofore used have tended to vibrate together with vibrations incident thereon and in turn pass such vibrations on to the ears. In the present case, however, the thickness and softness of the sponge rubber or cotton or similar material is such as to substantially entirely prevent the penetration of noise therethrough.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown several different ways by which the two members of the shield may be expeditiously assembled. As disclosed in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, the ear engaging pad His provided with an inner pocket 2| which opens to an end of the pad I! and in which is removably positioned a backing member i8 which in each of the various embodiments is secured to the strip Hi as a holder assembly. As shown in Figure 4, the backing member i8 may be in the form of a spring wire loop or the same may take the form of a flat plate i8 as shown in Figure 10.

In the form of attachment shown in Figures 6 to 8 of the drawing, the ear engaging pad IT is provided with a knob extension 28 on the rear side thereof which extends through an aperture 21 and into a recess 28 provided by the backing member 29.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 9 the ear engaging pad is provided on the rear side thereof with spaced straps 3! which engage over a wire backing member 32. Preferably in this case the backing member 32 is folded to position the end 33 thereof for engagement with the supportingstrip I4 centrally over the pad. As here shown the end 33 is formed with a circular loop portion arranged to engage about a pin or the like on the member id as illustrated in Figure 4.

I claim:

1. An ear protector of the character described comprising, a pair of shields arranged for mounting over the ears of the user, means for supporting said shields in operable position over the earscomprising, a sheath having the side portions thereof adjacent its ends inclined towards one another in the direction of said ends, members slidably mounted in said sheath and connected to said shields whereby on sliding said members outwardly with respect to said ends while engaged in said sheath said shields will be approached towards each other.

2. A pair of shields arranged for positioning over the ears of a person during the drying of the hair each comprising, the combination of a pad for engaging the side of the persons head and formed with an inside pocket opening to an end thereof, and a backing member mounted in said pocket for holding said pad ext-ended in position for use and including spring sides compressible for insertion in said pocket and expandible when released in said pocket for distending said pad.

3. A pair of shields arranged for positioning over the ears of a person during the drying of the hair each comprising, the combination of a backing member provided with an opening, and a pad for engaging the side of the persons head and formed at the rear side thereof with a projection of compressible material and formed with an enlarged end arranged to be compressed for extension into said opening to position said side against said backing member.

4. A pair of shields arranged for positioning over the ears of a person during the drying of the hair each comprising, the combination of a pad for engaging the side of a persons head and provided with a pair of spaced straps on the rear side thereof, and a backing member for said pad arranged for insertion between said pad andstraps for securing to said pad. 1

RUTH DISON. 

